


Semper Fidelis

by viciouswishes



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-01-04
Updated: 2007-01-04
Packaged: 2018-03-05 06:44:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3109964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viciouswishes/pseuds/viciouswishes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Around 1883, the Marines adopted their current motto "Semper Fidelis" (Latin for 'Always Faithful').</p>
            </blockquote>





	Semper Fidelis

**Author's Note:**

  * For [monanotlisa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/monanotlisa/gifts).



> Prompt: SGA, Cadman/Elizabeth, "Remember that she will be stirred/More by the spirit than the word;/For truth and tenderness do more/Than coruscating metaphor."

They are on M6P-337, but it could be anywhere. It could be Atlantis or North Korea or Wichita, Kansas. _Semper Fidelis._ This is what Cadman has trained for. 

Cadman's given Weir her sidearm and put Weir behind her with a warning not to shoot her accidentally. It was a routine diplomatic mission. Weir was supposed to work her magic on two warring tribes and set up trade relations. Cadman and the rest of Major Lorne's team have been to the planet a half-dozen times. But all that doesn't matter when rioting broke out and the Gate jammed with sudden traffic. 

Her job's to get Weir back to the jumper and wait for the Gate to clear. They can only hope that Lorne and Dr. Goldberg have made a similar escape. 

Cadman brings her gun up and fires at the two on-coming soldiers, kids with guns and swords. She doesn't think of her younger brother as she pulls the trigger. 

"Stay behind me," she hisses when Weir tries to make her way to see if the boys are dead. Cadman doesn't miss. 

"I know." Weir touches one of them like they're her own fallen children. She's been sitting at their negotiation table for four days now. 

Cadman yanks Weir to her feet. "Come on. There'll be others." She wonders if Weir can tell the different rebel uniforms, sown by mothers and widows, apart. 

Weir wipes the blood from her fingertips to her pants. "Which way?" 

"The jumper's about a mile west from here." Cadman doesn't trust anyone but her own people. When the alarms sounded both militaries promised Weir and her company protection. That was before an explosion - small, contained, probably homemade - rang out from the lobby of the great court where the leaders met. Cadman remembers Lorne shouting on the radio for her to get Weir the hell out of there. 

A mile isn't as far as you'd think. It only seems that way when you're out of shape, running for your life, or driving somewhere new in the dark. It seems like forever when you can't tell friend or foe apart. And when it's up to you, all you, to get your leader back to safety. 

The joke on Atlantis is that everyone's in love with Weir. The punchline is that it's true. Cadman's seen the way that Chuck beams at her in the morning; how Zelenka knows how she likes her coffee; and even McKay gives her his own brand of patience when explaining his latest and greatest projects. 

Cadman thinks that maybe she too is a little in love with Weir. It's hard not to be. 

They make it outside without running into anyone else. No doubt the civilians have gone into their homes. Cadman kind of wishes that Lorne would've parked the jumper in the forest instead of an easy, open field of tall grasses. At least this civilization hasn't invented air strikes yet. 

"Go," Cadman says, pushing Weir ahead of her. The metal of the jumper gleams in the summer sun like a mirage, almost in their reach. She prays to a God that she doesn't believe in that there's no one but maybe Lorne and Goldberg waiting for them. Cadman can only keep up with what's behind them, and from the smell of it, someone's setting the village on fire. "Look in front of you." 

Cadman's on Weir's heels. She doesn't run everyday for her own health. Sweat runs down Cadman's face. She feels like her neck's going to twist off or she's going to topple over with the constant looking over her shoulder and shooting at the figures with pitchforks and torches. Who uses torches in the daylight? 

But then the mile proves to be shorter than Cadman'd anticipated as she commanding the jumper to open. No Lorne. No Goldberg. Weir's already on the radio trying to raise them and contact Atlantis. Cadman closes the rear hatch and puts on the cloak just as a rioter runs smack into the jumper. He bounces off the shield. 

"Are you alright, ma'am?" Cadman asks Weir. 

Weir nods her head. Her face is pale and her breath labored. "You're hurt." She reaches out and touches Cadman's arm. 

"It's nothing. Just a scratch," Laura lies. They both know that she needs a couple switches. 

"You don't have to pretend, Lieutenant." Weir's in the back, dragging out the first aid kit. Cotton balls practically jump in her face as she opens the overstuffed kit. 

"What's our course of action?" Cadman hasn't heard any response back from the radio, except static. Neither of them wants to leave Lorne or Goldberg stranded. She flinches as Weir cuts the fabric away from her arm. Her wound hasn't hurt until now. 

"We wait until we either hear from the Major or for Atlantis." 

As the villagers amass around the jumper, Cadman turns away. She could take them into the air, hell, into the atmosphere. It's not like Lorne or Goldberg will be able to make it through the mob. "I should take us into orbit, ma'am." 

Weir's silent. Cadman knows that if Sheppard or McKay were here, they'd be bullying Weir into doing just that. "We don't leave people behind," Weir finally says. 

"They're not going to make it through that." Cadman swears she feels the jumper rock as a couple rioters try to drive a huge log through the windshield. 

"Alright." 

The jumper's slick under her as Cadman starts thrusters and takes them upwards. She does it slow, so slowly that she thinks she's going to die of impatience, as she lets the civilians slid off her ship. Their path takes them over the village and both of them are looking down, looking for their missing teammates. But soon Cadman's watching the planet spin below them and the stars ahead. 

Cadman's done her job. She's gotten Weir to safety. Her arm stings like a bitch, but it's nothing Biro won't be able to stitch up. She lets herself relax when she feels Weir next to her, hand resting on Cadman's good arm as they wait. Then Cadman's going to take them home and send back a rescue team. 

Tomorrow they'll be playing poker for Twinkies and paperback romance novels and Cadman will absentmindedly rub the itch on her arm. Cadman will be thinking that maybe she's just a little more in love with Weir and she'll taste rum on Weir's lips. 

But tomorrow's a mile away. The radio crackles with the sound of Lorne's voice.


End file.
